After trailing visiting West Georgia 37-36 at halftime, the Lee women's basketball team outscored the Wolves 19-1 at the beginning of the third period and turned the contest completely around. By the end of three periods the Lady Flame led 61-48 and claimed the 76-55 victory inside Walker Arena on Wednesday evening. Lee improved to 13-3 overall and 11-2 in GSC play.
Coach Marty Rowe said after his team posted their eighth straight victory and ninth win in their last 10 games, "We allowed West Georgia to be comfortable offensively in the first half. We really didn't execute offensively and with the type of urgency we needed." The veteran head coach praised his assistants, Jan Spangler and Kelly Kiser. "They made some great adjustments at halftime. They challenged the group to compete together on both ends and our team responded. I also thought our bench gave us a couple of big lifts tonight, and that is a great sign."
The Lady Flames got a spark from Hannah Garrett, Julia Duncan and Halle Hughes in the second half. They combined for 30 points and Garrett tallied all 15 of her points in the second stanza. Haley Schubert led the Lady Flames with 18 points and joined with Addison Smith in pacing the Lee rebounding with seven apiece. Duncan finished with 11 markers and teamed with Schubert for eight total assists. Hughes rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10.
The Lady Flames shot 48% from the field and helped salt the victory away by making 19-of-20 free throws. Lee also won the battle of the boards 34-29 but the Wolves outscored the Lady Flames in points in the paint 36-34 and second-chance points 11-7. Lee fought back with a margin of 7-4 in fast-break points and got 18 points from players off the bench.
The balanced Wolves scoring attack saw nine players score. Jaylin Austin led the way with 12 points. Siera Carter followed with 11 while Mariah Holder and Valencia Carroll countered with six points apiece. Carroll and Tahya Campbell led the rebounders with seven each while Campbell also dished off seven assists.
The Lady Flames will hit the road for another tough assignment on Saturday when they travel to Huntsville for a 3 p.m. contest against the University of Alabama Huntsville.
